TESTUDO • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Testudo

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noun

Testudo n. (pl. testudines)

(Zool.) A genus of tortoises which formerly included a large number of diverse forms, but is now restricted to certain terrestrial species, such as the European land tortoise (Testudo Graeca) and the gopher of the Southern United States.

(Rom. Antiq.) A cover or screen which a body of troops formed with their shields or targets, by holding them over their heads when standing close to each other. This cover resembled the back of a tortoise, and served to shelter the men from darts, stones, and other missiles. A similar defense was sometimes formed of boards, and moved on wheels.

(Mus.) A kind of musical instrument. a species of lyre; so called in allusion to the lyre of Mercury, fabled to have been made of the shell of a tortoise.

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Etymology of 'Testudo'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Testudo" Quotes from Famous Books

... As the testudo, as it was called in those days, advanced toward the castle, the machines upon the walls—catapults, mangonels and arbalasts—poured forth showers of stones and darts upon it, breaking up the array of shields ...

— The Boy Knight • G.A. Henty

... Testudo is a fysshe in a shelle / & is in {th}e se of Inde / & his shelle is very great & like a muskle / & be nyght they go out for theyr mete / & whan they haue eten theyr bely full / tha{n} they slepe swy{m}mi{n}g vpon ...

— Early English Meals and Manners • Various

Words linked to "Testudo" : protective cover, reptile genus, protective covering, genus Testudo, giant tortoise, European tortoise, protection, Testudinidae, Testudo graeca, family Testudinidae